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Just like AI seems like it's being used as a convenient scapegoat for the layoffs and trimming following the end of ZIRP, now we see it also being used to blame

Just like AI seems like it's being used as a convenient scapegoat for the layoffs and trimming following the end of ZIRP, now we see it also being used to blame for the failures of our modern education system. Mostly which are that our system only rewards one thing in education: the grade. Not understanding, knowledge, intelligence, but instead a single number that is more easily gamified than anything. And this single number (your GPA) is the single most important thing for every level from middle school to college where it will unironically determine your entire (academic/academic-adjacent) future.

throwawaybob420 1y ago
Our modern education system in the US is broken, but acting as if AI is a scapegoat is comical. Capitalism is what has destroyed higher education in this country. The concept of going to school to get a job isn’t a failure of education but of economics. AI is just another capitalist tool made to not only extract wealth out of you but something that they want you to rely on more and more so they can charge you even more down the road.
- pjc50 1y ago
  Even the Soviet Union made people go to school, and getting a degree was a route to higher status. (there have been a few Communist revolutions against the concept of "university", for various political reasons, but China rebuilt theirs after the purges and Cambodia is a sad historical footnote)
  - NoOn3 1y ago
    At least in the Soviet Union, they were free...
    - thatoneguy 1y ago
      In Soviet Union, university education free but came at cost of living in Soviet Union - Yakov Smirnoff, probably
  - realitybit3z 1y ago
    IN RESPONSE TO Even the Soviet Union made people go to school, and getting a degree was a route to higher status. Also people did that to avoid Dedovshchina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedovshchina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedovshchina https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/russia1004/2.htm https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/russia1004/2.htm
- fallingknife 1y ago
  Before college was a means to get a job, it was status signalling for the upper class by showing they could spend 4 years not working and learning things with no economic value that few could afford. There was never a time when a large portion of society went to school past 18 for any reason other than economic or status gain, and why should they?
  - nathan_compton 1y ago
    Learning stuff is cool?
    - RankingMember 1y ago
      I think learning stuff and making art just for the hell of it is going to become a lot more accepted as society continues on and more and more peoples' jobs get automated away. Obviously that's a huge simplification of a much more complex situation, but in general I think the best future is one where people are free to pursue interests without regard for those interests ability to pay for their food and housing.
      - altruios 1y ago
        UBI: the dream! Decoupling working from living: means only intrinsically valuable things get worked on. No more working a 9-5 at a scam call center or figuring out how to make people click on ads. There is ONLY BENEFIT (to everyone) from giving labor such leverage. Not every job needs to or should even exist: everyone having a job isn't utopia. Utopia is being free to choose what you work on. This directs market value for labor to go up. Work that needs to get done will be aligned with financial incentives (farmers, janitors, repair industries would soar to new heights). UBI is a necessary and great idea: A bottom floor to capitalism means we all can stand up and lift this sinking ship.
  - awkward 1y ago
    Economic OR status gain is putting a lot of work on the or. We've put into place a context for intellectual achievement at scale. Why shouldn't status be apportioned to someone who is recognized by a panel of peers and teachers to have useful insight into their field?
- s1artibartfast 1y ago
  There is nothing wrong with going to school to obtain knowledge and skills to secure a job. The problem with the modern educational system is that it isnt very efficient at this task. Instead, most of the value relies on the screening that took place before the students even entered the institution, not the knowledge obtained while there.
  - kenjackson 1y ago
    Yep, this is a huge problem. I've long argued that we need value add metrics for colleges, and it probably won't be a single number, but rather a set of values depending on input values, e.g., some schools may deliver a lot of value for kids with 1550 SATs, but other schools may do better for kids with 1200. Today we simply use college as a proxy for intelligence, so people just like to go to the highest rated college they can to be viewed as intelligent. What happens in the four years at the college is secondary.
    - csa 1y ago
      > Today we simply use college as a proxy for intelligence, so people just like to go to the highest rated college they can to be viewed as intelligent. Hmmm… I would say college is a proxy for social currency, of which intelligence is one type. In most cases, intelligence is the least valuable (imho).
  - Pet_Ant 1y ago
    > There is nothing wrong with going to school to obtain knowledge and skills to secure a job. That can't be the only goal. We also need to transmit culture, values, and teach them to become citizens.
    - aydyn 1y ago
      Teach them "values" as determined by a central governing authority?
      - goatlover 1y ago
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
realitybit3z 1y ago
IN RESPONSE TO: Just like AI seems like it's being used as a convenient scapegoat for the layoffs and trimming following the end of ZIRP there are like 4 factors besides ZIRP i've witnessed as a hiring manager - Layoff or dont hire locals in favor of H1b/H4 - Layoff or dont hire locals in favor of Nearshore and Offshore - Section 174 Tax code on software: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/section-174/ https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/section-174/ - More productivity via LLMs, Code Assist
tharkun__ 1y ago
... our system only rewards one thing in employment: the metric. Not understanding, knowledge, intelligence, but instead a single number that is more easily gamified than anything. And this single number (your metric value) is the single most important thing for every level from junior to principal where it will unironically determine your entire future. TFTFY

throwawaybob420 1y ago

Our modern education system in the US is broken, but acting as if AI is a scapegoat is comical. Capitalism is what has destroyed higher education in this country. The concept of going to school to get a job isn’t a failure of education but of economics. AI is just another capitalist tool made to not only extract wealth out of you but something that they want you to rely on more and more so they can charge you even more down the road.

pjc50 1y ago
Even the Soviet Union made people go to school, and getting a degree was a route to higher status. (there have been a few Communist revolutions against the concept of "university", for various political reasons, but China rebuilt theirs after the purges and Cambodia is a sad historical footnote)
- NoOn3 1y ago
  At least in the Soviet Union, they were free...
  - thatoneguy 1y ago
    In Soviet Union, university education free but came at cost of living in Soviet Union - Yakov Smirnoff, probably
- realitybit3z 1y ago
  IN RESPONSE TO Even the Soviet Union made people go to school, and getting a degree was a route to higher status. Also people did that to avoid Dedovshchina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedovshchina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedovshchina https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/russia1004/2.htm https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/russia1004/2.htm
fallingknife 1y ago
Before college was a means to get a job, it was status signalling for the upper class by showing they could spend 4 years not working and learning things with no economic value that few could afford. There was never a time when a large portion of society went to school past 18 for any reason other than economic or status gain, and why should they?
- nathan_compton 1y ago
  Learning stuff is cool?
  - RankingMember 1y ago
    I think learning stuff and making art just for the hell of it is going to become a lot more accepted as society continues on and more and more peoples' jobs get automated away. Obviously that's a huge simplification of a much more complex situation, but in general I think the best future is one where people are free to pursue interests without regard for those interests ability to pay for their food and housing.
    - altruios 1y ago
      UBI: the dream! Decoupling working from living: means only intrinsically valuable things get worked on. No more working a 9-5 at a scam call center or figuring out how to make people click on ads. There is ONLY BENEFIT (to everyone) from giving labor such leverage. Not every job needs to or should even exist: everyone having a job isn't utopia. Utopia is being free to choose what you work on. This directs market value for labor to go up. Work that needs to get done will be aligned with financial incentives (farmers, janitors, repair industries would soar to new heights). UBI is a necessary and great idea: A bottom floor to capitalism means we all can stand up and lift this sinking ship.
- awkward 1y ago
  Economic OR status gain is putting a lot of work on the or. We've put into place a context for intellectual achievement at scale. Why shouldn't status be apportioned to someone who is recognized by a panel of peers and teachers to have useful insight into their field?
s1artibartfast 1y ago
There is nothing wrong with going to school to obtain knowledge and skills to secure a job. The problem with the modern educational system is that it isnt very efficient at this task. Instead, most of the value relies on the screening that took place before the students even entered the institution, not the knowledge obtained while there.
- kenjackson 1y ago
  Yep, this is a huge problem. I've long argued that we need value add metrics for colleges, and it probably won't be a single number, but rather a set of values depending on input values, e.g., some schools may deliver a lot of value for kids with 1550 SATs, but other schools may do better for kids with 1200. Today we simply use college as a proxy for intelligence, so people just like to go to the highest rated college they can to be viewed as intelligent. What happens in the four years at the college is secondary.
  - csa 1y ago
    > Today we simply use college as a proxy for intelligence, so people just like to go to the highest rated college they can to be viewed as intelligent. Hmmm… I would say college is a proxy for social currency, of which intelligence is one type. In most cases, intelligence is the least valuable (imho).
- Pet_Ant 1y ago
  > There is nothing wrong with going to school to obtain knowledge and skills to secure a job. That can't be the only goal. We also need to transmit culture, values, and teach them to become citizens.
  - aydyn 1y ago
    Teach them "values" as determined by a central governing authority?
    - goatlover 1y ago
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

realitybit3z 1y ago

IN RESPONSE TO: Just like AI seems like it's being used as a convenient scapegoat for the layoffs and trimming following the end of ZIRP there are like 4 factors besides ZIRP i've witnessed as a hiring manager - Layoff or dont hire locals in favor of H1b/H4 - Layoff or dont hire locals in favor of Nearshore and Offshore - Section 174 Tax code on software: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/section-174/ https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/section-174/ - More productivity via LLMs, Code Assist

tharkun__ 1y ago

... our system only rewards one thing in employment: the metric. Not understanding, knowledge, intelligence, but instead a single number that is more easily gamified than anything. And this single number (your metric value) is the single most important thing for every level from junior to principal where it will unironically determine your entire future. TFTFY